'Free' lunch offer declined by Webster schools

WEBSTER — On the advice of administrators, the School Committee on Tuesday declined to participate this year in a federal program that provides free breakfast and lunch to districts.

Assistant Superintendent Ted Avlas said the district could stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in Chapter 70 funding from next year's operating budget by participating in the program, which is called the Community Eligibility Provision.

Webster and other qualifying schools must have at least 40 percent of their students either in foster care, Head Start, or confirmed as homeless, migrant or living in households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance, or Food Distribution on Indian Reservation benefits.

The percentage of Webster students who are "directly certified" in those categories is 42 percent. However, approximately 54 percent of Webster students are identified as low income, and the difference has a potential adverse effect on Chapter 70 funding, Mr. Avlas said, adding the 12 percent "goes away in the new program."

Superintendent Barbara Malkas said the district had received a letter from the state that said detailed guidance for how the program would also impact special education funding is expected to be forthcoming.

Another uncertainty pertains to Chapter 70 aid calculations for 2016, she said. The state expects to ask the Legislature for "appropriate modifications" to the formula to accommodate districts participating in the CEP, she said.

Mr. Avlas said he believed the state would come up with a solution to the financial questions, given that the program is aimed at poorer districts.

But what that solution would look like, "nobody knows. ... I mean nobody," he said.

In other business, the committee increased the daily fees for a before- and aftercare program at Park Avenue School from $5 to $7 for the half-day program, and from $10 to $12 for the full day.

The program, for which day care vouchers are accepted, runs from 6:30 to 9 a.m. and from 3:30 to 6 p.m. The program had not had an increase in five years and carried a negative year-end balance of $7,839, Mr. Avlas said.

The committee and administrators toured the district's three buildings prior to the meeting, and lauded the prep work of the maintenance department amid summer programming and construction and renovation projects.

At the high school, a new alternative program for ages 18-22 begins this year, with the district to save a considerable amount by keeping students in the district, Mr. Avlas said.

In addition, construction of the new Park Avenue School is 69 percent complete and is expected to be finished by Dec. 12. The new building should be ready for students — who have been in modular classrooms — after Christmas break on Jan. 5.